Reconsideration of wind farm design and operation based on the two-scale momentum theory

Journal article

The importance of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) interaction with offshore wind farms has become increasingly apparent through many recent studies. ABL interaction effects introduce uncertainty in farm performance predictions, and there is presently a need for robust physics-based models that can be used in preliminary design to quickly evaluate farm performance. This paper employs a recently developed fully analytical model of offshore wind farm aerodynamics based on two-scale momentum theory, which accounts for ABL interaction, wake interaction and realistic rotor performance. The impact of ABL interaction on farm power curves is demonstrated, and the turbine spacing required to achieve a certain target capacity factor (CF) is explored for realistic probability distributions of ABL heights, approximated using the Weibull function. Novel ‘ABL-height-informed’ control strategies based on optimising the ‘farm-scale induction’ (the reduction in farm-average wind speed) are also investigated in terms of their impact on the farm power. The achievable farm CF for a given turbine spacing is found to decrease when the expected range of ABL height is lower. The farm power could be somewhat increased by using the new control schemes, which could also significantly reduce the farm-scale induction. This suggests that the farm wake could be reduced while retaining similar or higher farm power.

Authors: Smyth, ASM; Nishino, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
• Volume: 3224
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 032089
• Article number: 032089
• Publication date: 2026-05-01
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/3224/3/032089
• EISSN: 1742-6596
• ISSN: 1742-6588
• Language: English